About

I’m variously a community arts supporter, teacher and curricular design specialist, decarceration and public education advocate, and speculative fiction fan. As a graduate student I studied Russian and Irish poetry, interdisciplinary studies, and narration of trauma. In Russia and Ireland I had a chance to witness localized conflicts informed by larger political transitions, and through this I developed an interest in how writing and publishing allow individuals opportunities to counter the narratives offered by political and judicial systems. Today I’m most interested in counter-storytelling, alternative publication, and narrative method in conflict analysis.

From 2014-2017 I served as the curriculum and textbook coordinator for UNIV111/112, the university’s year-long interdisciplinary freshman seminar. During this term I successfully advocated for the removal of testing as a mandated component of our curriculum and in favor of open source curricular material to replace high-cost print materials.

From 2014-2017 I served as my college’s representative on the University’s general education redesign task force, where we supported interdisciplinary curricular redesign that would be fully transferrable for students across majors.

From 2015-2016 I served as a community engagement volunteer for VCU’s yearlong read of Bryan Stevenson’s criminal justice reform manifesto, Just Mercy.

In and around Richmond I work in advocacy for public education and incarceration reduction. I volunteered as a teacher in the Richmond City Jail (and later Justice Center) for over five years, and I currently serve as a board member and volunteer at Opportunity Alliance Re-entry, as a member of the Richmond Citizens’ Advisory Commission on Alternatives to Incarceration, and as a member of the programming team for the Community Justice Film Series. In 2017 I volunteered as a coordinator of communications for the Kenya Gibson for School Board campaign.

I’m an inter-disciplinarian at heart, and where I live online you’ll find me writing and sharing content about a range of issues: